Drove up 120 yesterday to the North Fork of the Stanislaus to join a bunch of guys from the Orvis store in SF. They had 4 guides, about 15 beginner/intermediate anglers, and it was completely free...did I mention they cooked lunch for us too?
IN the morning we got a quick lesson in high sticking a nymph rig and they turned us loose for a couple of hours. I landed 3 small rainbows, 8 inches or so, and had a blast. Figured out a few things about setting the right depth and hoe to set a hook.
Then it was back to the parking lot for hot dogs and a lesson in dry fly fishing. After that we were turned loose again and I hiked back upstream 30 minutes to where I'd fished in the morning and started fishing a series of pockets with a caddis as an attractor and a small nymph on the dropper.
The first hole I hit I had fish slam the caddis but no takers. Next hole, I took 3 fish all on the dropper, next hole, same story, I was gettiing into fish right away. By about 4:30 they started taking that caddis and I landed a couple on that.
By 5:30 I called it quits with a total of 13 fish for the day all between 6 and 12 inches. They were great little fighting fish and went airborne as soon as the hook set. The 12 inch fish got into deeper water and took some line and gave me 10 minutes of fun.
They all made it back into the river safe and sound...even the one I foul hooked in the top of the head with the dropper.
My best day by far ever with a fly rod in my hand...scratch that...best day ever fishing period. Its great when you figure something out then BAM you start hooking fish.
Orvis got themselves a customer for life. Great bunch of guys and they treated us really well...for FREE!
